Credit: The Associated Press

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014 Edward “Tedd” Wetherbee stands in front of a storefront in Fife,Wash. Dozens of cities in the state have banned pot farms and stores. One of those cities, the tiny Tacoma suburb of Fife, is defending its right to remain pot-shop-free in court. Fife has invoked something of a nuclear option: the argument that federal law prohibits the state from regulating marijuana. (AP Photo/Gene Johnson)

TACOMA, Wash. — A state judge said Friday that a small city can continue to ban state-licensed marijuana businesses, in a case with big implications for Washington's experiment in legal pot.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper issued the ruling after extensive arguments over whether Initiative 502, the voter-approved state law that legalizes adults' recreational use of marijuana, left any room for such local bans.